India's NSE IPO draws over US$10 billion, traders eye modest listing pop

MUMBAI: The National Stock Exchange of India's IPO drew more than US$10 billion by the final day of bidding on Monday (Sep 21), as investors look to tap into a boom in public listings in Asia's third-largest economy.

The US$2.3 billion IPO, the country's biggest after Hyundai Motor India's HYUN.NS $3.3 billion offering, received bids for 505.81 million shares, 5.71 times the 88.64 million shares on offer after three days of bidding, exchange data showed.

NSE shares will likely begin trading on Thursday, marking the culmination of a decade-long effort by India’s biggest stock exchange operator to enter public markets.

The IPO comes at a time when India's primary market is picking up, with billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms likely to list later this year in what could be the country's biggest-ever stock offering.

Qualified institutional buyers led demand at the NSE IPO, bidding for 12.68 times the number of shares set aside for them. Non-institutional and retail investor portions were subscribed 6.55 times and 1.39 times, respectively.

The strong institutional demand signals investors' willingness to look past a recent slowdown in the derivatives segment and bet on long-term growth prospects for the Indian capital market, analysts said.

India's largest bourse has a 93 per cent share in the cash market and nearly 75 per cent in options. Investors on the exchange jumped 40 per cent over two years to 129.09 million as of March end.

However, regulatory tightening, taxation and a new closing auction have hit derivatives trading.

"The decline in derivatives volume is a phenomenon that has been playing out since 2024.... From a long-term perspective, the volumes should still trend higher and NSE's smaller businesses outside the derivatives segment should also be able to contribute materially to earnings," said Vipul Bhowar, executive director and head of equities at Waterfield Advisors in Mumbai.